kopite7kimi, perhaps the most reliable source of pre-release GPU specs, tweeted out some key numbers (opens in new tab) for Nvidia's upcoming GeForce RTX 4070 graphics card. The bad news is that this new GPU reportedly has exactly the same number of shaders, RT cores, and render outputs as the older RTX 3070 (opens in new tab). Therefore, it is possible that the performance jump in the new 4070 is mostly related to clock speed.

The new GPU is also said to have more memory than the RTX 3070, 12GB instead of 8GB; Nvidia may also have increased the L2 cache from 4MB to 32MB. Most of the hardware specs, however,

are disappointingly similar to the old 3070, with 5,888 FP32 shaders, 46 RT cores, and 64 ROPs. Thus, one major change is the chip's boost clock, which is said to be 2,610 MHz, a 51% leap from the RTX 3070's peak frequency of 1,725 MHz. As ever, these are all just rumors and not official Nvidia specifications. [However, kopite7kimi has an excellent track record when it comes to early research on GPU specs. In addition, the RTX 4090 (open in new tab), RTX 4080 (open in new tab), and the GPU formerly known as the RTX 4080 12GB (open in new tab) (now cancelled and rebranded as the RTX 4070 Ti at CES in January (open in new tab) and (It is now expected to be rebranded as RTX 4070 Ti and reappear at CES in January (open in new tab)).

Compared to the numbers above, the RTX 4080 12GB had 7,680 shaders, 60 RT cores, and 80 ROPS before Nvidia cancelled it, so an RTX 4070 instead of an RTX 4070 Ti would certainly undercut those numbers. 1 month We expect to find out soon, as both the 4070 Ti and 4070 are expected to be announced at CES later in the year.

In any case, the 50% improvement over the previous generation of cards is hard to miss. However, as with most GPUs of this latest generation, we don't feel that this could have been even better. Imagine not only a 50% increase in clocks, but also a 50% increase in shaders. Oh well. Let's hope for the next one.